Gemma 2 27B vs WizardLM 2 8x22B
WizardLM 2 8x22B comes out ahead, 38 to 32 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
GoogleGemma 2 27B
32/100- ECI122.1
- Price$0.65 / $0.65
- Context8K
- Our pick
MicrosoftWizardLM 2 8x22B
38/100- ECI—
- Price$0.493 / $0.493
- Context66K
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WizardLM 2 8x22B is our pick
WizardLM 2 8x22B is the better all-round choice, scoring 38/100 against Gemma 2 27B (32). It leads on capability, price and context window. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%. Capability uses the average of shared benchmarks (GPQA Diamond), because WizardLM 2 8x22B has no Capabilities Index score yet.
- CapabilityWizardLM 2 8x22BShared benchmarks: WizardLM 2 8x22B 43.4% · Gemma 2 27B 36.5%
- Lowest priceWizardLM 2 8x22BWizardLM 2 8x22B $0.493 · Gemma 2 27B $0.65 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextWizardLM 2 8x22BWizardLM 2 8x22B 65,536 · Gemma 2 27B 8,192 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsGemma 2 27B: Text · WizardLM 2 8x22B: Text
- Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
| Measure | Weight | Gemma 2 27B | WizardLM 2 8x22B |
|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityShared benchmarks | 50% | 36 | 43 |
| Price | 25% | 56 | 62 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 0 | 0 |
| Context window | 10% | 0 | 12 |
| Overall | 100% | 32/100 | 38/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Gemma 2 27BGoogle | WizardLM 2 8x22BMicrosoft |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 122.1 | — |
| ECI rank | #152 of 165 | — |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 36.5% | 43.4% (best) |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 1.4% | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.65 | $0.493 (best) |
| Output | $0.65 | $0.493 (best) |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.65 | $0.493 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 3 providers | Median of 3 providers |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 8,192 tokens | 65,536 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 2,048 tokens | 8,000 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| Tool calling | No | No |
| Structured output | No | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Open | OpenApache-2.0 |
| API model ID | — | — |
| API providers | 3 | 3 |
| Released | Jul 13, 2024 | Apr 15, 2024 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Jun 30, 2024 | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Gemma 2 27B$7.80
- WizardLM 2 8x22B$5.92
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Gemma 2 27B or WizardLM 2 8x22B?
WizardLM 2 8x22B is the better all-round choice, scoring 38/100 against Gemma 2 27B (32). It leads on capability, price and context window. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%. Capability uses the average of shared benchmarks (GPQA Diamond), because WizardLM 2 8x22B has no Capabilities Index score yet.
Which is cheaper, Gemma 2 27B or WizardLM 2 8x22B?
WizardLM 2 8x22B is cheaper at $0.493 input / $0.493 output per million tokens (median across 3 API providers). Gemma 2 27B costs $0.65 input / $0.65 output per million tokens (median across 3 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.493 per million tokens for WizardLM 2 8x22B versus $0.65 for Gemma 2 27B (1.3× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
Not every model here has a Capabilities Index score, so we compare the average of shared benchmarks (GPQA Diamond): WizardLM 2 8x22B 43.4% and Gemma 2 27B 36.5%. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — WizardLM 2 8x22B 43.4%, Gemma 2 27B 36.5%.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Gemma 2 27B and WizardLM 2 8x22B yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, WizardLM 2 8x22B leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. Note that Gemma 2 27B and WizardLM 2 8x22B does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.
Which has the bigger context window?
WizardLM 2 8x22B has the largest context window at 65,536 tokens, against 8,192 for Gemma 2 27B. Maximum output per response: Gemma 2 27B up to 2,048, WizardLM 2 8x22B up to 8,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Gemma 2 27B accepts text; WizardLM 2 8x22B accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
Yes, both publish their weights (Apache-2.0), so you can self-host them.
Which is newer?
Gemma 2 27B is the newest, released Jul 13, 2024. WizardLM 2 8x22B came out Apr 15, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Gemma 2 27B Jun 30, 2024.
How do you decide the winner?
Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Nov 2, 2026.
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